Description:

This paper discusses why Americans are not ready for world music, which accounts for its lack of popularity in the US. First, the paper defines world music as anything not Western. Then, it describes how one would be exposed and develop an appreciation for it. According to the paper, this involves maturity and an open mind. Next, the paper explores how certain types of music become popular, citing the influence of You Tube. The paper concludes by noting that it's unlikely that Americans have opportunities to hear and learn to appreciate world music.

From the Paper:

"Byrne makes a good point when he says that all other music, other than Western that is, sold in US music stores tends to be lumped together in a single pick-through it bin. This means that there is no real marketing effort in the United States to introduce Americans to world music, or to perhaps take some obscure work of music and to help produce it in America into a phenomenon. Such an undertaking by an American music producer would not only be of great benefit to a world musician, but would introduce the American music listening public to the sounds of other cultures that could, for some, or even many, be music that they want to hear more of. Byrne acknowledges this in his article found in the New York Times, October 3, 1999 edition."
"Bruno Nettl (2004) makes essentially the same argument, but points more succinctly to the classics of Mozart, using the opera The Marriage of Figaro as an example of a work that is rooted in a European heritage, but, unlike contemporary works, is embraced by the American mainstream."